Space Combat
= Spaceship Rules = Ships have special rules concerning various numbers and calculations that set them apart from standard entities. In general, ships count as constructs as well as magic items. Ships can be healed by spells such as mending and make whole. Ships also have special size categories as detailed below. The chart explains what size a ship is considered compared to a creature of a certain size. For example, a "medium" ship is bigger than a "colossal" creature. Size modifier indicates the AC bonus or penalty. Besides size, ships also have base stats determined by their structures, such as speed, armor, HP, and hardness. Ships also have a base save equal to 1/3 their upgrade level (rounded down). Ships can have special qualities and attributes based on their abilities and level. Some ships may grant a bonus to certain skills such as Stealth. Ship weapons are designed for ship-to-ship combat and not suitable for attacking significantly smaller or larger targets. When attacking other ships or creatures, normal AC and attack rolls apply unless the difference in size categories is more than 1. Each difference in category after that amount causes a stacking -4 penalty on attack rolls. This applies even when a small ship is attacking a large one. While a small ship may be capable of easily hitting a titanic ship, there's a significantly reduced chance of the weapon doing any actual damage as it is deflected off of very thick armor. = Space Combat = Space combat works like regular combat except as noted. * Space combat takes place on a hex grid. Each grid represents 5 units of movement. There are no "diagonals" in space. * Ships have AC, core charges (CC), hull points (HP), and a saving throw * When a ship's shield is functional, only the shield takes damage * When a ship's shield is down, various systems or the hull itself will take damage * Ships have various systems that are explained in detail below * Ships have facing and firing arcs; most guns can only fire in specific directions * As a general rule ships move as if using Fly; movement should be relatively straight * During ship combat, all characters on the ship act off the captain's initiative. If the players are capable of communicating with each other, they can decide at that time what action to take each round. Characters cannot take an action that requires them to be at a specific station if they are not at that station. The character at a station is the final arbiter of what that station will do this round. IE: A gunner is the person who ultimately decides whether a gun shoots or not. = Systems = Each ship can have various systems built into it. These systems can be simple or complex, and larger ships may have duplicates of some systems. Hull Every ship has a hull. A hull has AC, hull points (HP), hardness, and saving throws. The hull is the primary armored section of the ship. Reducing a ship's hull to 0 or less HP indicates a breach which results in devastation of the ship and some or all of its systems, and potentially death or damage to all those on board. Hull damage can be restored by spells such as Mending and Make Whole. A hull's HP, AC, and hardness depend on the size of the ship and the material it's made of. * Iron/Steel: 30 HP/inch and 10 hardness. The cheapest metal available that can be used to make ships. Iron and Steel grant +2 armor to the ship. * Mithral: 30 HP/inch and 15 hardness. Mithral is a light and cheap material with high durability. Mithral grants +3 armor to the ship. * Adamantine: 40 HP/inch and 20 hardness. Adamantine grants +4 armor to the ship. * Orichalcum: 45 HP/inch and 25 hardness. Orichalcum is the hardest known metal and is very light. Orichalcum is used for ships that travel frequently to other planets due to its ability to withstand re-entry. Ships made of orichalcum have 10 fire resistance and +5 armor. Magic Core Every ship has a magic core. The magic core has core charges (CC). A magic core is used as a battery to fuel most of the systems on a ship, and is therefore the most important part of the ship besides the hull. It's generally assumed that simply flying and navigating a ship does not consume charges due to the low energy required. However, certain actions consume CC. Magic cores can be used to fuel a shield. While the shield is up, only the shield is struck by successful attacks on the ship. The hull and all systems are immune to damage, and any attacks aimed at them strike the shield instead. Any damage done is applied to the CC reserve. For example, if the core has 100 charges and an attack aimed at the ship would do 25 damage, the CC is reduced to 75 charges. Even if shields are down, there is a chance the core will take damage. Cores generally have a maximum charge equal to 1/3 the hull's HP value. Magic cores can be recharged by casting spells into them. Regardless of the range of a spell, the caster must be adjacent to the core, and target the core or include it in the area of effect. The spell is absorbed by the core, and otherwise simply disappears without its actual effect, even if capable of affecting more than one target. Any spell other than self-targeted spells is suitable for this purpose, whether it be a cure, damage, buff, or debuff. A spell restores a number of CCs equal to its spell level times three (0th level spells do nothing). If a magic core is reduced to 0 CC, all systems on board the ship immediately stop functioning. The core must be restored to at least 1 CC for normal systems to function. The core cannot be brought below 0 CC. Any damage in excess of the shield's remaining CC is automatically applied to the hull. Captains can call for a shield to come up or go down as an immediate action. Engines Every ship has engines. These are special magical constructs that move the ship by rapidly teleporting and dropping through dimensions. A pilot controls the ship and therefore its engines, determining where exactly the ship moves to. Engines are powered by the core and non-functional if the CC reaches 0. In normal circumstances, engines do not consume CC to function. Because ships do not actually have momentum, disabling an engine immediately halts the ship's movement. In cases where a ship has more than one reported engine, destroying an engine slows the total move speed by a proportional amount. For example, a ship with a 30 move speed and 2 engines would lose 15 move speed if one engine was destroyed. A ship with a 30 move speed and 3 engines would lose 10 move speed. Generally, engines only allow for relatively straight movement in combat, as per the Fly skill. The pilot can turn the ship up to 60 degrees. A check is required to turn more than 60 degrees. A ship's direction can be changed at the start of each new turn. A ship's direction can be changed even if no movement takes place. For more information, see Pilot below. Weapons Some ships have weapons. These are special magical constructs that use energy from the core to fire a focused blast of magical energy. The damage amount varies by weapon, but the blast usually deals force damage, and are delivered as touch attacks. These weapons also ignore hardness on ships and other objects. Weapons can be manned by anyone (as an exotic weapon), and typically only require one person to use. The most common type of weapon relies on Dexterity for attack rolls, but other types of weapons are not unheard of. Weapons rely on the user's BAB to determine number of attacks per round. Some feats and class skills may apply to weapons, where appropriate. For example: Gunslingers add Dexterity to damage rolls, Fighters may select ship weapons as a category for Weapon Training, players may take Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Ship Weapon) as a feat, and any bonus that adds to attack or damage rolls will apply. Weapons are generally forward-facing and have an arc in which they can fire, typically ranging from straight forward to 90 degrees to one side. Firing a weapon consumes 1 CC or more per shot. Weapons are powered by the core and non-functional if the CC reaches 0. A damaged weapon cannot be used until repaired. Communications Some ships have communications. This is a special magical system that sends audio to every part of the ship so that commands and instructions can be heard. Some smaller ships may not require communications systems. Communications are powered by the core and non-functional if the CC reaches 0. Communications do not consume CC to function. For repair purposes, communications systems can be repaired anywhere on the ship. = Damage = When shields are up, damage is simply applied to the CC. The systems on a ship and the hull are not at risk of taking damage. When shields are down, attacks that hit the ship may strike either the hull or a system randomly. On a successful hit, roll 1d20 to determine what's hit. Reroll if the system does not exist or is permanently damaged. Roll to randomly pick one system if there are multiple (1d2 if Weapons are struck and there are two weapons). If the hull or core are hit, they take the full damage normally. If other systems are hit, they become damaged. Damaged systems stop functioning and must be repaired. If struck a second time, the system becomes severely damaged. If struck a third time, the system becomes permanently damaged and cannot be repaired in combat. Critical hits can cause a system to skip one or more steps. = Skill Checks = Characters gain a set of skill ranks that are totally separate from their normal character skill ranks, which are used to perform checks and actions related to space combat. Players have a minimum of 2 skill ranks per character level, plus an additional 1 for every 5 int they have over 10 (+1 at 15 int, +2 at 20 int, and so on). The available skills are: *'Captain' (Int or Cha) *'Engineer' (Int or Wis) *'Pilot' (Dex or Wis) *'Saboteur' (Int or Wis) Players can spend skill ranks like normal skill ranks, maxing out a skill or spreading into multiple skills, and cannot have more ranks in one skill than they have character levels. Ranks are added to the corresponding ability score to determine total bonus. There is no "class skill" bonus for space combat skills. Players can put ranks into both versions of a skill, such as both Captain (Int) and Captain (Cha); doing so allows them access to ability-restricted skill checks, which are always made with that ability's skill ranks. = Stations = Within a ship there are various tasks and jobs that must be done, especially during combat. Some tasks can be performed in different locations, while others require the person to be in a specific place. Captain (Int or Cha) A captain is in charge of the ship and the crewmates aboard it. Captains issue orders to other crewmates which provide buffs to the crew and to the ship. Captains typically have to be on the bridge with the pilot, but can be anywhere on the ship where they are capable of shouting orders, or have access to communications, assuming they can see outside the ship. On some ships, captains can have assistants that aid with skill checks. Unless otherwise stated, each check requires a standard action to activate. *'"All Power to the Engines!"': +10 to move speed for 1 round; consumes 2 CC (DC 15) *'"Do a Barrel Roll!"': Your ship gains Evasion for 1d4 rounds (DC 20) *'"Evasive Maneuvers!"': +5 to dodge AC for 1d4 rounds (DC 20) *'Inspire Haste': All allies this round can make a skill check that requires a standard action as a move action (DC 20) *'"It's a Trap!"': Once per encounter as immediate action, grant pilot a move action (DC 15) *'Mirrored Flight': A gunner may make one attack this round that ignores armor (DC 10) *'"Shields Up/Down!"': Raise or lower the shield as immediate action (DC 5) Int-only Buff List: *'Directed Fire': All weapons deal an additional 1d6 damage for one round (DC 20) *'Intuition': Ignore the effects of an enemy ship's Decoy, Veil, or other ability that causes a miss chance for one round (DC 25) *'Quick Thinking': Add +4 to the ship's saving throw for 1d4 rounds (DC 25) *'Weaken Resolve': As a full-round action, you may make an opposed captain check against an enemy ship's current captain. Success means that captain becomes shaken for 1d4 rounds. Cha-only Buff List: *'Heroic Speech': Allies other than yourself gain a +1 morale bonus on skill checks and attack rolls for 1d4 rounds (DC 25) *'Ignore the Odds': You may move through difficult terrain, traps, mines, and any other obstacles this round without suffering any negative effects (DC 25) *'Moral Support': You aid one ally with any action, adding +4 to their next d20 roll (DC 20) *'Trust': As a full-round action, you may grant one other ally an extra standard action on their turn (DC 30) Engineer (Int or Wis) Engineers move from one station to another, repairing damage done to them. Each successful skill check restores a system one level of damage (from severe to damaged, or damaged to working). Engineers cannot repair permanently damaged systems in combat. An engineer must be adjacent to the system they intend to repair. Hull repair can be performed from anywhere on a ship. Checks are a standard action unless otherwise noted. No more than two engineers can work on a single station. *'Repair a Damaged Station': DC 15 *'Repair a Severely Damaged Station (full-round action)': DC 20 *'Repair a Permanently Damaged Station (30 minutes)': DC 30 *'Keep it Together': As a full-round action, you restore a number of temporary hull points equal to your engineer check (as long as your check meets the minimum DC), not to exceed the hull's maximum HP. These temporary hull points do not stack from the same engineer; only the highest amount applies. Multiple engineers can apply temporary hull points on the same hull. These temporary hull points disappear after one hour (DC 15) Int-only Engineer Actions: *'Overclock': You briefly improve the attack and damage of one weapon for one round, adding +1 to attack rolls and +2 to damage rolls; consumes 1 CC (DC 25) *'Slow and Steady': You can increase the time required to perform an action from a standard action to a full-round action. Doing so reduces the DC by 5. Wis-only Engineer Actions: *'Jury-rig': You can repair a damaged system as a swift action, or a severely damaged system as a standard action, by adding +10 to the DC. *'Redundant System': You may make a check to protect a system you just repaired within the last 2 rounds. Any time within the next minute, if the system is hit again, it is not damaged, and this effect ends (DC 25) Gunner Gunners control the ship's weapons. Generally one gunner mans one weapon, but this may vary by ship. A gunner typically uses their BAB + Dexterity to determine accuracy with a weapon, and their BAB to determine number of attacks. Gunners must be adjacent to a ship's weapon to use it. Ship cannons are considered exotic weapons, so without a feat or class ability, attacks are made at -4. Guns do touch attacks to most targets, but ship armor applies against these attacks. Pilot (Dex or Wis) Pilots control the ship, determinine where it's going, where it moves and how fast, and what direction it's facing. Pilots can perform checks to do more complex maneuvers. Some ships allow for a co-pilot that can take over controls or simply aid in skill checks. Pilots must be on the bridge. Regardless of whether the pilot is Dex or Wis, she adds her Dex modifier to the ship's AC. A pilot however adds either her Dex or Wis to the ship's save (whichever is higher). Piloting a ship is generally a full-round action unless otherwise noted. *'Come to an immediate stop or hover': No DC, can be done as a free action. *'Change ship facing direction': No DC, can be done as a free action at the start of a turn even if the ship does not move this round. *'Move straight or turn up to 60 degrees': DC 10. *'Turn more than 60 degrees': DC 15; consumes 5 movement and costs 2 CC. *'Turn more than 120 degrees': DC 20; consumes 10 movement and costs 4 CC. Dex-only Pilot Actions: *'Blind Spot': As a swift action, as long as you remain adjacent to a ship that is at least one size category larger, all guns have a +2 circumstance bonus on attack rolls, and the enemy's guns have a -2 penalty (DC 30) *'Close Call': Once per encounter as an immediate action, reroll a failed save (DC 20) *'Reversal': As an immediate action, change ship's facing direction (DC 25) Wis-only Pilot Actions: *'Close Scrape': As an immediate action, you may negate the effects of a critical that is confirmed on the ship. The attack still hits and does normal damage (DC 30) *'Foresight': Once per encounter as an immediate action, add your Wisdom modifier in addition to your Dexterity modifier to the ship's AC for one round (DC 20) *'Outmaneuver': As an immediate action, make one move action after the enemy ship moves. This consumes one move action from your upcoming round (DC 25) Saboteur (Int or Wis) Saboteurs are counteragents who specialize in protecting the ship from harm by interfering with enemy ships. Saboteurs have to be in a station designed for their task, whether it be a lab or specified station. Saboteurs sometimes have to be able to see outside of the ship, but many actions can be done as a more general activity to protect the ship. Unless otherwise stated, each check requires a full-round action to activate. *'Drop Mines': Once per encounter, each square you move through this round becomes mined and does 1d6 damage to any ship moving through it (DC 10) *'Space Caltrops': Each square you move through this round becomes difficult terrain for the next 1d4 rounds (DC 10) *'Teleportation Anchor': You drop a trap in one tile you moved through this round. When a ship moves through this tile, it comes to an immediate stop and cannot move any more this round (DC 15) *'Trigger Mine': As an immediate action, you can detonate one square's worth of mines, dealing 1d6 damage to a ship within 5 units of that square (DC 15) *'Veil': Once per encounter, your ship gains 20% concealment which lasts 1d4 rounds (DC 20) Int-only Saboteur Actions: *'Compromise Core': You force one enemy's ship to lower its shields. The shields cannot be raised again until the start of your next turn (DC 30) *'Scramble': You interfere with an enemy ship's navigation, causing it to either move at half speed next round, or immediately move 5 units in any direction you choose. This does not change the ship's facing (DC 20) *'Shutdown': You cause a random system on an enemy ship to fail. The system becomes "damaged" and must be repaired, but does not actually count as damaged if struck by an attack afterward. This effect overcomes Redundant System (DC 25) Wis-only Saboteur Actions: *'Counterintelligence': You reverse and prevent any ongoing negative effects of Compromise Core, Scramble, Shutdown, or Distraction for one round. If the effect is longer than one round, it resumes next round (DC 20) *'Decoy': You create a decoy which has a 50% chance to absorb an attack, which lasts until destroyed (DC 25) *'Distraction': You cause all creatures on one opposing ship to suffer a -1 penalty to all skill checks and attack rolls made for 1d4 rounds (DC 30)